Etudes Mesopotamiennes - Mesopotamian Studies N4 - 2024

Etudes Mesopotamiennes - Mesopotamian Studies 4 provides the first complete presentation of the ceramic vessels from the levels associated with the Neo-Assyrian occupation of Tell Masaikh, excavated by a French-Syrian archaeological mission between 1996 and 2010. Located in the valley of the Middle Euphrates in Syria, at a crossroads for encounters and on a key axis for communications and trade from Assyria to the Mediterranean, as well as from Anatolia to Babylonia, Tell Masaikh corresponds to the ancient city of Kar-Assurnasirpal, founded on the left bank of the Euphrates by Assurnasirpal II during his military conquests, and later becoming one of the residences of the Assyrian governor Nergal-eresh. But rather than showing the imposition of a material culture that only conforms to the models of the Assyrian Empire, the ceramic production of Tell Masaikh bears witness to an open cultural horizon, where Assyrian, Babylonian, Kassite and Levantine traditions blend and interact. In light of data documenting Syria's archaeological heritage in a region whose ancient history is still relatively obscure, this book not only presents a catalogue of previously unpublished finds, but also anchors the study of this material in a broader historical reflection on the ways Assyrian power interplayed in a specific regional context.